Boeing Dreamliner catches fire in United States

A Boeing Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines has caught fire in Boston following a flight from Tokyo.

There are no reports of injuries following the incident onboard the Boeing 787, with all passengers and crew having already disembarked.

Boeing confirmed the fire started after a battery in the auxiliary power systems overheated.

The incident is latest in a series of setbacks for the Boeing aircraft, which was three years late to market when launched in 2011.

“Smoke was initially discovered by maintenance staff in the rear end of the cabin, and confirmed by another maintenance staff who also detected smoke outside the aircraft,” Japan Airlines spokesperson Carol Anderson explained.

Made primarily from composite materials, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the first mid-size airplane capable of flying long-range routes.

However, a spate of technical issues has hurt its image since launch.

Last year, a flight operated United Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing due to an electrical problem.

Qatar Airways said it December it had been forced to ground one of its 787s after several manufacturing faults caused electric problems.

These were believed to be similar to those that affected the United plane.

Again in December, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it had identified errors in the assembly of fuel line couplings, in the Dreamliner.

It warned that these errors could result in fuel leaking on to hot engine parts and start a fire, cause engine failure.